


The Baby Project

by kungfucoffee



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Baby Project AU, Enemies to Lovers, I tried to be funny, M/M, Minhyuk is just tryna survive high school and so is hyunwoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-20 04:04:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8235455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kungfucoffee/pseuds/kungfucoffee
Summary: Lee Minhyuk is just trying to get through high school without too much drama. With his best friends Kihyun and Hyungwon, the trio do their best to get through whatever it is junior year will throw at them-- musical tryouts, the SAT, and the basketball team being assholes. But there's one thing that might mess up everything Minhyuk's worked for-- the Baby Project.Paired up with Son Hyunwoo (his undeniably hot crush who also is conveniently part of the friend group who hates his), Minhyuk must take care of a doll that eats, sleeps and cries like a real baby would. Will he manage to keep his 4.0 and get through the semester, or will Hyunwoo's asshole friends start too much trouble?





	1. Act I

**Author's Note:**

> ok so this is also asian-american alternate universe forgot to add that  
> and its ongoing obv  
> should b fun  
> pls give me feedback

For Lee Minhyuk, life as a junior in high school is pretty mediocre. He goes to school, does homework with his friends after school like the nerd he is, goes home to his parents, plays some video games, and goes to sleep. I mean, he’s pretty glad that he doesn’t live in Korea like his parents, and that he doesn’t have to go through the insanely difficult education system like his parents did. He’s taking a couple AP classes and in the school choir, but it’s not super stressful or anything.

“Hey, dude, hey,” Yoo Kihyun snapped his fingers in front of Minhyuk’s eyes, and sitting across from them, Hyungwon made an _extremely_ ugly face. “You were spacing out. Also, please never make that face again, Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon in response just made another ugly face as Minhyuk turned to his lunch, digging into the rice and vegetables that he’d packed that morning. He pulled out his phone, checking to see what texts he’d gotten.

“ _Anyways,_ as I was saying, my Health class is total BS.” Kihyun complained, sipping his coffee (it was his third cup in four hours), “Our entire semester’s project is that stupid Baby Project thing.”

“Oh, you mean the one where two people get a sack of flour or an egg or some shit?” Hyungwon reached over to steal a French fry from Kihyun’s plate.

“Yeah, but our school got some grant or something,” Kihyun rolled his eyes, “So instead of just a sack of flour, we have these actual dolls, and the teacher makes sure that we feed it and don’t curse at it and don’t drop it.”

“You would be that kid who dropped your baby,” Hyungwon snorted, giggling at Kihyun’s exasperated face.

“Bitch, you were dropped as a baby,” Kihyun retorted, yanking his container of fries back from Hyungwon, “But anyways, instead of having a partner, I have to work by myself, which actually sucks so much because instead of taking care of the baby for half the time, I always have to have it with me.”

“Uh, speaking of which, where is it now?” Minhyuk mentioned, looking up from his lunch.

Kihyun shrugged casually, “in my gym locker.”

“Dude!” Hyungwon gaped at his best friend, “Didn’t you say the teacher could tell that you mistreated it?”

“Hey, I’m treating it fine,” Kihyun raised his hands in defense, “I even gave it one of those plastic nipple things.”

“You mean a _pacifier_?” Minhyuk crinkled his nose as he also snatched a French fry from Kihyun’s plate.

“Yes, I mean a pacifier,” Kihyun sighed, “How the hell do you know this?”

“I’m not a dumbass, unlike someone,” Minhyuk snickered at Kihyun, “Nah, I’m just fucking with you. My younger sister’s only like… three. She was _just_ a baby not that long ago.”

“Yeah, three years ago,” Hyungwon piped up with a smirk.

“No, you dumb shit, three years ago she was _born_ ,” Kihyun threw a packet of salt at the lanky boy. Hyungwon immediately threw a fork back, and the two play fought for a bit.

As the bell rang, Minhyuk threw all his stuff into the trash and grabbed his backpack.

“Off to English,” Kihyun slung an arm around Minhyuk’s neck cheerfully. Hyungwon joined them on the other side of Minhyuk.

“Hey nerd, don’t look now but your man crush is right behind you.” Hyungwon clapped Minhyuk on the back as he turned around and met eyes with the most adorable, cutest guy in the world. Minhyuk could feel his cheeks heating up as he whirled back around to face his friends.

“Stop embarrassing me!” Minhyuk hissed to Hyungwon.

“Dude, I don’t need to embarrass you, you’re fine on your own,” Hyungwon snickered as Minhyuk groaned and hit his tall friend with his English binder.

Minhyuk’s schedule was pretty good, and he was glad that he had at least a couple of classes with his friends. His first period of the day was Gym with Kihyun, then Math, then Band third period, and then lunch, and then English and he ended the day with History. Both English and History he had with both Kihyun and Hyungwon, and in all of his classes he had friends in, just not close friends.

“Hey, loverboy, snap out of it,” Kihyun smacked Minhyuk on the butt, steering him into their English classroom.

“Good afternoon, boys,” the teacher greeted them cheerfully, “And Yoo Kihyun, mind that you don’t sexually harass your peers, yes?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Adams,” Kihyun winked at Minhyuk and took his seat in front of Hyungwon. Minhyuk plopped down in his seat and pulled his supplies for class out, waiting for the bell to ring.

Mrs. Adams strolled to the front of the class and flicked the projector screen down, and Minhyuk rested his head on his hand, already bored.

Class seemed to drag on forever. All throughout the class, Minhyuk entertained himself by throwing bits of eraser into Kihyun’s hair, much to Hyungwon’s amusement. The room was hot and stuffy, and Minhyuk had forgotten his water bottle, much to his chagrin.

The next class, History, also felt never ending, but the teacher had taken great care to seat the Three Musketeers away from each other. That class seemed to drag by, but Minhyuk didn’t have the distraction of eraser shavings in Kihyun’s hair.

Finally, when the last bell had rung and the teacher glared at the students all celebrating that their classes were over, Minhyuk leaped up from his seat, yanking his backpack off the back of his chair. He raced down the hall after Kihyun and Hyungwon, headed for his locker.

“That class actually took forever,” Hyungwon complained as he stuffed his books back into his locker. Minhyuk stared at his own books, wondering what he would need to take home that night for homework.

“Right? It moves so slowly,” Kihyun complained, already done and waiting for the other.

The halls were filled with throngs of students shoving each other, all trying to get out of school. Minhyuk pressed up against the hall, books clutched in his hands as he tried to avoid the pushing mass of people.

“Get the hell out of my way,” Someone snapped from the other end of the hallway.

“Ah yes, the lovely Shin Hoseok,” Hyungwon commented dryly, shutting his locker door with a loud clang, “My day wouldn’t be complete without hearing his dulcet tones.”

The three friends watched as Shin Hoseok and his friends—Hyunwoo included—pushed their way through the crowd, glaring at people and occasionally shoving them.

“Hyungwon, nice potato sack,” Hoseok sneered as he unlocked his locker, which was unfortunately right next to Hyungwon’s. Minhyuk glanced at Hyungwon's oversized beige sweater, which in his opinion looked great on him. 

Hyungwon rolled his eyes, “At least I can pull off a potato sack, you struggle to look good in Stussy.”

“That’s not what your mom was saying last night,” Hoseok smirked.

“Oh yeah, real mature,” Kihyun rolled his eyes, dragging his friends away from the group of obnoxious friends.

“Tell her to hit me up any time!” Hoseok called after them teasingly.

“Fuck off,” Kihyun yelled back, flipping Hoseok off.

Ah yes, the only thing that made Minhyuk’s time in high school go from mediocre to shitty as fuck—Shin Hoseok and Company. His “crew” was comprised of Lee Jooheon, Im Changkyun, Son Hyunwoo, Kwon Soonyoung (or Hoshi), and Choi Seungcheol. They were the super bro-y guys—the stars of the basketball team, the leaders of the dance team, every girl’s wet dream and all the teachers' favorite students.

Since freshman year, for as long as he could remember, his friend group and Hoseok’s never got along. Kihyun, who had been the class president since freshman year, was always getting into fights with Hoseok over the dance team, and the rest of their friend groups just kind of followed.

Even Hyunwoo, who Minhyuk had an embarrassingly enormous crush on, was kind of an asshole.

“I’m so sick and tired of his fucking face,” Hyungwon groaned, tugging his backpack onto his shoulders. The three friends set off for their homes, all living close enough in the small suburban town to walk to and from school.

“For real, they all need to chill the hell out,” Kihyun complained, rolling his eyes, “Today in Health class, Changkyun and Jooheon wouldn’t stop throwing their baby like it was a fucking basketball, like, how disrespectful can you get?”

“And Hoseok just needs to chill in general,” Minhyuk snickered, “I heard that he posted a dick pic on his Story a couple weeks ago on accident.”

“No!” Hyungwon gasped, freezing in the middle of the crosswalk. A car honked at them and the three laughed, rushing off the crosswalk in a flurry of giggles.

“That’s so gross,” Kihyun rolled his eyes again, “He probably did it on purpose, that idiot.” The three chuckled at that.

Hyungwon turned left down the street and Kihyun and Minhyuk continued on down the right—Hyungwoon lived one block down, but Kihyun and Minhyuk lived right across the street from each other.

“And also, they’re _all_ in my Health class,” Kihyun complained to Minhyuk, “Hoseok, Changkyun, Jooheon, Seungcheol and Hyunwoo, it’s fucking all of them!”

“Tough luck, man,” Minhyuk snickered as he crossed the street. As he unlocked the door to his house, he shouted over to Kihyun, who was unlocking his door across the street, “We’re Skyping tonight, right?”

“You know it!”

Entering his house, Minhyuk quickly slipped out of his shoes and padded up the carpeted stairs to dump his books into his room.

“Hey, Minah, why are you in my room?” He asked his younger sister, who was lying on his bed, reading a picture book.

“I want to be grown-up like you, oppa!” Minah exclaimed from the bed, smiling cheekily up at Minhyuk.

“Come here, you rascal,” Minhyuk swung Minah up onto his back and carried her downstairs. His mom was in the kitchen, busy cooking.

“Afternoon, Eomma,” Minhyuk bent down to give his petite mother a kiss on her weathered cheek, and a tight hug.

“Afternoon dear,” she smiled gently up at him, “Pull out the fishcake, please.” As Minhyuk went to do as she asked, Minah clambered down from Minhyuk’s back. “How was your day, Minhyuk-ah?”

“Mommy, why don’t you ask how my day was?” Minah asked playfully.

“Eomma, you rascal,” their mom replied, “And I did dear, earlier today.”

“It was okay,” Minhyuk shrugged, “Classes were boring. Hoseok made some rudeass comment to Hyungwon, as usual.”

“Eomma, Minhyuk said a bad word!” Minah tugged on their mom’s hem of her shirt, “Wash his mouth with soap!”

“She’s not gonna wash my mouth with soap,” Minhyuk rolled his eyes, turning to chop up the green onions, “Where’d you get that one from?”

“I saw it on TV,” Minah said proudly, puffing out her chest.

“Minah, have you been watching American TV again?” Their mom asked sternly, “You know I only want you watching the Korean station.”

“But Mom- I mean Eomma- it’s boring!” Minah complained, sitting down in one of the dining table chairs, “And they speak so fast, it’s hard to understand.”

“Yes, but the more you watch it, the easier it’ll be to understand,” Minhyuk supplied helpfully, “Hey, feel grateful that Eomma isn’t sending you to Korean school on the weekend like she did with me.”

“I just might,” Eomma teased, ruffling Minah’s short, raven black hair.

As Minhyuk helped his mom get all of the ingredients into the pot, he heard the door unlock, and Minah ran to the door, squealing.

Smiling and rosy-cheeked from the crisp evening air, his father appeared in the kitchen doorway, Minah hanging off of him.

“Hello, dear,” their mom greeted him, giving him a kiss on the cheek and quickly ran her fingers through his jet black hair.

The four sat down to dinner, each talking about their day. Minhyuk’s mom was really insistent on “family dinners”, saying that it was a big part of her family’s tradition and that her family would continue to do so.

“May I be excused?” Minhyuk asked once all the dishes were cleared and washed.

“Off to go Skype with your friends?” Minhyuk’s dad chuckled, “I’ll never understand why would all don’t just meet up, you live less thatn two blocks away from each other.”

“Too much energy,” Minhyuk called down from the top of the stairs, and disappeared into his room. His parents just chuckled after him.

Hyungwon and Kihyun were already in a call when Minhyuk logged on to Skype.

“Hey, bitch,” Kihyun greeted him, mouth full of ice cream. Kihyun’s family never really ate dinner together, so most of the time Kihyun just ate dinner—and a lot of ice cream—in his room while Skyping Hyungwon.

“Hey, slut,” Minhyuk smiled back, grabbing his notebooks to finish up his homework, “What were you guys talking about?”

“Choir,” Hyungwon responded easily, “Kihyun was talking about some freshman who keeps talking to him.”

“Oh, I think I know who you’re talking about,” Minhyuk looked up with a grin, “Seungkwan, right? He’s cute.”

“And super loud,” Kihyun added, chuckling, “Seungkwan is something else. He’s enthusiastic though, I’ll give him that.”

“Enthusiastic is right,” Minhyuk exclaimed, “He wore leather pants yesterday!”

“Guys, I still have no idea who you’re talking about,” Hyungwon complained, making a face.

Kihyun just shrugged, not really caring about Hyungwon. “Sucks to be you, I guess.”

“At least I don’t suck for free,” Hyungwon joked, making Kihyun yell at him as Minhyuk mimed giving a blow job.

Ah yes.

High school boys.

+

“ **Lee Minhyuk to the counseling office. I repeat, Lee Minhyuk to the counseling office.”**

Minhyuk looked up from where he was grappling with his trombone in third-period Band, surprised to hear his name over the PA System. Immediately, all his classmates started ooh-ing, and someone asked what he’d done to get in trouble.

“Quiet down kids,” The teacher banged on his desk a few times to shut them up, “Minhyuk, take the hall pass.”

Minhyuk nodded, a bit anxious. As far as he knew, he hadn’t done anything wrong, or anything that would land him in trouble. All during the walk to the office, he mulled over what he could have possibly done to get him called into the office.

“Minhyuk!” The counselor greeted him as he pushed open the door to Ms. Yuen’s small office, “Come in, have a seat.” Minhyuk pulled out one of the folding chairs, crossing his legs nervously. Ms. Yuen turned to her computer and clicked at a couple of things.

“Now, Minhyuk, correct me if I’m wrong, but on my records, it shows that your elective this year is Band, yes?” Ms. Yuen asked, turning the computer screen so that Minhyuk could see his transcript.

“Yeah, I am, why?” Minhyuk asked in confusion.

“Well, I’m just seeing that you haven’t taken Health yet,” Ms. Yuen began, “But you won’t be able to fit it into your schedule next year as a senior. You’ve already taken a Performing Art, but you need Health in order to graduate.”

“Wait, so does that mean—“ Minhyuk gaped at Ms. Yuen, heart sinking rapidly.

“We’re going to need to transfer you from third-period Band to Health immediately, otherwise you won’t be able to graduate,” Ms. Yuen said firmly. “I’m sorry, and I know that you just settled into your classes but it should be fun.”

“Ms. Yuen, they’re doing the Baby Project,” Minhyuk whined, “The _Baby Project_. With _dolls_.”

Ms. Yuen smiled stiffly, “You have friends in that class, correct? Yoo Kihyun?”

“I mean, I guess,” Minhyuk shrugged, “I really can’t take it next year?”

Ms. Yuen shook her head. “I’ve already informed the teacher that you’ll be transferring in, and if you don’t have any questions, I can take you to your new class now.” Minhyuk shook his head, getting up to shoulder his backpack with an internal sigh.

Health class. At least he had Kihyun in it—and since Kihyun didn’t have a partner for the Baby project, maybe they could partner up. It would save both of them a lot of pain and suffering.

“How are you liking junior year so far?” Ms. Yuen asked conversationally, leading Minhyuk down the hall.

“It’s been okay,” Minhyuk shrugged noncommittally, “I mean, we’ve only been here for like two weeks.” Ms. Yuen chuckled at that.

“Well, here’s your classroom,” Ms. Yuen gestured to the door. Minhyuk could hear people yelling loudly, and through the little window in the door, he saw someone (probably Hoseok) throw a wad of paper. “I know it’s not preferable, but please try your best. Your mother would have my head if you didn’t graduate.”

With a sigh, Minhyuk braced himself and pushed the door open.

“Ah yes, Lee Minhyuk!”

“Hyukkie!” Kihyun squealed over the teacher, who was midway through his greeting, “Why are you here?”

Minhyuk lazily lifted a hand, “Gotta take Health to graduate.”

“Well aren’t you a cool kid,” Mr. Alex, the Health teacher, raised an eyebrow at Minhyuk, “As I was saying, welcome to Health class. As I’m sure you’ve heard, we’re doing the Baby Project, so I’ll have to find you a partner…” Minhyuk scanned the class. Two people didn’t have partners, Kihyun, and of course, Son Hyunwoo.

“Can’t I be partners with Kihyun?” Minhyuk mumbled to Mr. Alex. As much as he liked Hyunwoo, having to pretend to have a baby with him would be painful.

“No!” Kihyun yelled, eyes wide as he clutched his baby, “Mr. Alex, you can’t do that! I have to represent the single fathers of this world! Let Hyunwoo be gay!”

All of Hyunwoo’s friends started yelling at this, and the ruckus carried on for a while until Mr. Alex shouted at them to quiet down.

“Minhyuk, go sit with Hyunwoo,” Mr. Alex said with resignation, “Not because I’m agreeing with Mr. Yoo, but I know the two of you are close friends, and it would be unfair to partner the two of you when the rest of the class was randomly assigned someone they didn’t know. Part of the project is getting to know someone new, and working with them.”

With a glare to Kihyun, Minhyuk trudged to his seat and dumped his backpack down next to it. As he sat down and pulled the chair in closer to the desk, he felt someone staring at him.

Looking up, he made eye contact with Hyunwoo, who was looking closely at him. When their eyes met, Hyunwoo quickly turned to the front again, arms crossed.

“Alright kids, today, we’ll be talking about eating right,” Mr. Alex said, scribbling “DIET” on the board in messy handwriting.

“Yeah, you know what I’m gon be eating tonight,” Seungcheol shouted from the back of the classroom, prompting laughter. Minhyuk turned his head to make eye contact with Kihyun (who was sitting next to Seungcheol), and mimed a blow job. Kihyun snorted.

“Spinach and kale, I presume, Mr. Choi,” Mr. Alex responded smoothly, “Now, what makes a meal balanced?”

Minhyuk turned to face Kihyun again, winking.

+

“Can you take it?”

“Huh?” Minhyuk looked up from where he was shoving all of his stuff into his backpack. Class had ended and it was lunch, and Hyunwoo was towering above Minhyuk, holding the baby out.

“Can you take the baby?” Hyunwoo repeated, slightly impatient. Minhyuk’s mind went blank, and he numbly accepted the doll.

“Y-yeah, sure,” Minhyuk nodded, looking down at the little baby, wrapped firmly in yellow blankets.

Hyunwoo was gone, the only trace of him being his nice, fresh-smelling cologne and a small baby bag sitting on the table.

“Wait!” Minhyuk called after him, but Hyunwoo was long gone. “I don’t know it’s name…”

“Got stuck with the rat?” Kihyun asked, joining his friend as they walked to the cafeteria, where Hyungwon was waiting. Only Hyungwon bought lunch from the school; the other two brought it from home.

“Yeah, and look at it!” Minhyuk shoved the small doll into Kihyun’s face, “I don’t know the first thing about being a dad?”

“Did you actually knock up a girl?” Hyungwon popped up beside Minhyuk, clutching his lunch in one hand, “What is that?”

“Shut the hell up, Pepe the Frog,” Minhyuk snapped as the three made their way to their normal lunch table. “I got transferred to Health for third period instead of band, it’s a graduation requirement.”

“Oh wow, that’s rough,” Hyungwon said emotionlessly, teasing Minhyuk, “I’m sorry to hear that, buddy.”

“Oh yeah, real helpful, Pepe,” Minhyuk groaned. He pulled his sandwich out of his backpack, only to be interrupted by the doll, which started wailing at full volume.

“Jesus fuck,” Hyungwon jumped, startled by the shrieking, “What the fuck is that?”

“It’s the baby,” Minhyuk grabbed the baby and looked closely at it, “How do I stop it? Kihyun, does it have batteries that I can take out?”

“No, dumbass,” Kihyun sighed, ripping the doll from Minhyuk’s arms and tucking a fake baby bottle into its mouth, “It just wanted food.”

“Oh.” Minhyuk watched sheepishly as Kihyun fed and burped the baby, all the while glaring at Minhyuk.

“So you’re gonna be a dad for the whole semester with Kihyun, huh?” Hyungwon mused, sipping his CapriSun juice packet.

“Oh no, we’re not partners,” Kihyun snickered evilly, “I’m the best wingman ever.”

“No…” Hyungwon leaned forward with an evil grin on his face.

“Yup.” Minhyuk nodded sadly, taking his baby from Kihyun’s arms, “I’m a dad with Hyunwoo.”

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Every Day, Every Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk takes care of the baby.

Minhyuk looked worriedly down at the baby in his arms and back up at the clock. Class started in two minutes, and Hyunwoo still hadn’t shown up—Minhyuk didn’t want to be stuck with the thing for the whole weekend. Hell, Minhyuk didn’t even have Hyunwoo’s number to give the little demon to him!

The night before, the stupid doll had cried the entire night. Minhyuk was supposed to be getting a lot of sleep and rest because he had a math test, but to no avail, the baby kept him awake. He fed it, burped it and sang to it twelve times before the _thing_ finally fell asleep.

As the bell rang, clanging mockingly in Minhyuk’s ears, he glared down at the stupid doll. He would really have to name it soon.

“Good morning, good morning class,” Mr. Alex swept into the room, a huge smile on his face, “I have excellent news for us today.”

“You’re retiring!” Jooheon yelled from the back of the class, and his friends snickered.

“Not yet, Mr. Lee, not yet,” Mr. Alex responded dryly, “Nope, I was able to borrow a movie about healthy eating from the library!”

The entire class groaned in misery. A movie meant not falling asleep while some white guy narrated the steps of digestion.

“Cheer up kids, it’s not the end of the world,” Mr. Alex said cheerfully as he set up the projector, “At least you’re not doing hard work. We can do work sheets if you’d like.”

“I’ll stick with the movie,” Kihyun said dryly.

The movie, it turned out, was about how bad eating fast food is for you, but really the only thing that it did was make Minhyuk crave some McDonald’s French fries.

When the bell finally rang, Minhyuk was just packing up his stuff and shouldering the baby bag when Lee Jooheon came up to him.

“Hey, Minhyuk, lemme talk to you for a sec,” Jooheon said, pulling him out into the hall.

Minhyuk raised an eyebrow at the sophomore, arms tightly clutching the baby (he really needed to name the stupid doll). “The hell do you want, Jooheon.”

“Look,” Jooheon glanced around, as if to make sure that no one was listening, “Can you please just watch that stupid doll for a little longer?”

“Excuse me?”

“Hyunwoo has a shit ton of stuff going on in his life,” Jooheon responded, looking Minhyuk straight in the eye, “He doesn’t really need to be dealing with a whining baby, or a whining high schooler, for that matter.”

Minhyuk felt his jaw clench. Who the fuck did Hyunwoo think he was?

“You can tell your friend to man up and take responsibility,” Minhyuk snapped furiously, “I don’t want to be doing this project any more than he does, but in case you didn’t notice, it’s a _group project_ that both of us need to pass to graduate.”

Jooheon stared at Minhyuk for a second more and rolled his eyes, stalking off angrily.

“What the hell was that about?” Kihyun asked Minhyuk, coming up next to him in the hall.

Minhyuk watched Jooheon join his friends, all of them clearly talking shit about Minhyuk. “Dunno. Hyunwoo trying to get out of the project, I guess.”

 +

“Dude, you look exhausted.”

Minhyuk cracked open an eye. His head was on his desk, hoodie pulled over his messy brown hair. His glasses were smudged and dirty, and he was cradling a venti black coffee from Starbucks.

“Thanks, Einstein, that’s exactly what I needed to hear first thing in the morning,” Minhyuk responded dryly, pulling his hood further over his face.

“You’re lucky that today’s Gym class is indoors and that we’re just taking notes on stuff,” Kihyun added, snickering as he took the seat next to Minhyuk. He grabbed Minhyuk’s coffee and took a sip. “God damn, you’re drinking it straight?”

“Straighter than I’ll ever be,” Minhyuk joked, “I ain’t no bitch, I don’t need no creamer or sugar.”

“Clearly,” Kihyun peered down at his best friend in slight concern, “So tell me again why you look like you belong on the set of The Walking Dead.”

“I didn’t tell you,” Minhyuk retorted, “And ha-ha. I had to watch that stupid doll all weekend because Hyunwoo flaked and didn’t show to class on Friday. I got two hours of sleep. For the entire weekend.”

Kihyun patted Minhyuk on the back in fake sympathy, “Hey, at least since you’re gay you won’t ever have to go through this again, am I right?”

Minhyuk just glared up at Kihyun from under the protection of his hoodie.

“Alright, alright, enough jokes.”

That day in Health class, Minhyuk sat angrily in his seat, tapping his foot on the ground in frustration as he waited for the one and only Son Hyunwoo to finally show up to class.

“Give ‘em hell, Hyukkie,” Kihyun cheered, patting his friend on the back as he walked to his seat.

Hyunwoo entered the classroom with his friends and took his seat quietly, setting his backpack down next to his chair. The entire time, Minhyuk glared at the tall senior.

After about two minutes of Minhyuk glaring at Hyunwoo, he slowly turned to face him.

“Can I help you?” Hyunwoo asked as he raised one of his perfect, perfect eyebrows.

“Yes, you can help me,” Minhyuk exploded angrily, “Where the hell were you on Friday? We needed to figure out a way to take care of the stupid baby where one of us isn’t stuck with it for an entire weekend!”

“Friday?” Hyunwoo frowned as though deep in thought. “I had stuff to do.”

+

“I had stuff to do?” Hyungwon echoed Minhyuk. The three were walking through campus. They had stayed late for choir rehearsal, and it had gotten dark. It was 7 at night, and the three needed to get home.

“That’s such a BS excuse,” Kihyun grumbled, “That sucks, what an asshole!”

“I know, right?” Minhyuk complained, “And he didn’t even offer to take the baby today, so I’m still stuck with this monster.” Minhyuk thrust the baby into Kihyun and Hyungwon’s face, and of course, it started crying. With a loud groan, Minhyuk fumbled around the baby bag until he found a bottle, and stuck it in the baby’s mouth.

Just as they were leaving campus, a group of guys exited the gym.

“Just what I need,” Hyungwon groaned under his breath. It was Wonho and the others, who had just gotten out of football practice.

“Oh hey, look who it is,” Wonho grinned lazily, waving at them. “Minhyuk, you look trashier than usual today.”

Minhyuk just rolled his eyes and walked the other way.

“What a fucking nerd,” Someone snickered, “Look at his fucking hair!”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Kihyun snapped, turning around and striding towards Wonho.

Wonho grinned—or more smirked—down at him, his bleached blond hair falling into his eyes.

“Look, dumbass, what the hell is your problem?” Kihyun snarled, eyes flashing angrily, “Stop being fucking rude to us. I don’t know why you think it’s funny to make fun of people, but it’s not funny, you’re just being an asshole. Cut it out.”

Wonho smiled down at the irate junior and patted him on the back.

“Just because you suddenly got the guts to stand up for your friends doesn’t mean you’re any better than us,” Wonho growled in a low, rough voice. Kihyun stared up at him petulantly. “You’re still a fucking dork, Hamster. Also, fix your hair. It looks like you went through a tornado and didn’t use the storm cellar properly.”

Kihyun rolled his eyes and went to join his friends.

“You shouldn’t have gone back in the first place,” Hyungwon remarked as they turned onto their street, “You were just doing what they wanted.”

Kihyun sighed, looking up at the sky as he pushed his messy hair away from his face. “Yeah, but I don’t like it when people say stuff like that about us.”

That night while they were Skyping, the topic of Wonho came up, obviously. Kihyun was still upset about the confrontation, if the huge tub of ice cream he was devouring said anything.

“And it’s like,” Kihyun stuffed another glob of ice cream into his mouth. Hyungwon wrinkled his nose, and Minhyuk laughed as he filmed it on Snapchat. “Who the hell does he think he is? No one else in school talks shit about us; most people like us! They just have some weird thing against us, I don’t get it.”

“I think it’s cause you spilled milk on Wonho’s Gucci shoes in our freshman year,” Hyungwon remarked, shrugging as he finished his homework.

“Yeah, but I apologized for that and offered to buy him new ones,” Kihyun replied, grabbing more ice cream. “He said not to worry about it, would he really still be holding onto that grudge?”

“I don’t think he’s holding onto the grudge about the ice cream, I think he’s holding onto the grudge just to hold a grudge,” Minhyuk replied after he’d posted the video of Kihyun to his Story. “It’s easier to fight than to forgive.”

“Well, what about you and Hyunwoo?” Hyungwon asked slyly.

“Hyunwoo’s different,” Minhyuk answered instantly. “He’s been super rude and cold to me, and I honestly have no idea what I did wrong. All he does is give me these stupid one word answers and tell me that he’s busy and acts like an asshole and literally not talk to me for the entire period, he just sits there and looks super hot and cute and I really, really hate Hyunwoo.”

Kihyun and Hyungwon both gaped at Minhyuk.

“Too much?” Minhyuk asked sheepishly, blushing a bit.

“You really have it bad for him, don’t you?” Kihyun chuckled with a smile.

“I hate it!” Minhyuk groaned, “I should despise the guy for how he treats me, but I just can’t find it in me. He’s so cute and fluffy!”

“With his muscles, fluffy isn’t the first word I would use to describe him,” Hyungwon mused.

“Yeah, but see that’s why I like him and you don’t.” Minhyuk said matter-of-factly.

+

“We still haven’t figured out a fucking theme for Homecoming,” Kihyun groaned, taking a long sip of Minhyuk’s coffee. “Wow, I should start buying my own coffee, what with this stupid dance coming up. It’s in two weeks, and we don’t have a theme.”

“How about “Midnight Magic?” Hyungwon offered, smiling around his mouthful of pasta.

“Or, or, hear me out, “The Great Gatsby?” Minhyuk grinned, shooting finger guns at Kihyun.

“Dude, not everyone’s a fucking English nerd like you are,” Kihyun complained. “I have a student council meeting today; I’ll suggest Midnight Magic to them.”

“I still can’t believe you managed to pull off being student council president,” Hyungwon laughed, shaking his head, “I still remember your campaign slogan.”

“Yoo Kihyun…” Minhyuk began, trading a look with Hyungwon. Kihyun buried his face in his hands.

“The KEY to success,” The two chorused, snickering at Kihyun’s pained expression.

“You two are never gonna let me live that down, huh?” Kihyun sighed, gloomily eating some of his rice.

“Nope,” Minhyuk grinned.

“Not in a million years,” Hyungwon added.

“Anyways, you guys gotta ask your parents if you can go to Homecoming,” Kihyun said, “I can get you guys cheap tickets.”

“Yeah, I’ll ask,” Minhyuk nodded, confident that his parents would say yes.

“Absolutely not!” Minhyuk’s mom shrieked, “Lee Minhyuk, you _know_ that you have to watch your sister on Fridays!”

“Yeah, but just this once, Eomma,” Minhyuk pleaded, “Please? Don’t you want your son to have a true high school experience?”

“Do you not go to high school every day?” His mom said sharply, “What do you call that then, a fake high school experience. You’re not going.”

“Seriously?” Minhyuk sighed, texting Kihyun to let him know.

“Oh, speaking of your sister, can you go pick her up from the daycare center? They did a special activity and she wanted to stay late, you can take the car if you’d like,” Minhyuk’s mom gestured to her keys on the table.

Minhyuk grabbed them, “See you soon!” He was obviously upset that his mom wasn’t letting him go to the dance, but at the same time, he understood where she was coming from.

The day care where Minah was at was only about five minutes away from Minhyuk’s house, and when he got there, he was immediately greeted by her loud screams.

“I didn’t know you were gonna pick me up today!” Minah cheered, tugging on Minhyuk’s shirt. He knew what she wanted when she did that, and lifted her up so that she was settled on his shoulders. Minhyuk carefully walked to the front desk, ready to sign Minah out.

As he filled out the form, Minah started squirming on his shoulders.

“Bye, Hyuna!” Minah squealed, waving her hands.

Minhyuk looked up just in time to see a young girl, presumably Hyuna, dragging away a tall guy about his age. It wasn’t just any guy, though.

Hyuna turned around and waved, and Son Hyunwoo picked her up and lifted her onto his shoulders as well, calmly walking out of the day care center.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes hello pls talk to me @ultshowhyuks on twt thx


	3. Princesses and Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> minhyuk is v cute.

“Dude, how the hell are you not gonna go to Homecoming?” Wonho yelled loudly.

Minhyuk, who was hurrying to his first class because he’d woken up late, had accidentally walked past a small corridor. Wonho and Hyunwoo were there, talking.

“I can’t, you know why,” Hyunwoo responded slowly, “I don’t have any options.”

“Hyunwoo, you know that Coach is gonna cut you from the football team if you don’t make it to Homecoming,” Wonho cautioned. Minhyuk gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth—would Hyunwoo  actually give up his spot on the football team?

“I have to watch my sister,” Hyunwoo said stiffly, “My mom won’t be home all night, and I can’t leave Hyuna by herself. You know this, Hoseok.”

Minhyuk heard Hoseok sigh, and he backed up a bit, not wanting to intrude any more on their conversation. He turned and walked to his class, head in the clouds as he started developing a plan.

“Hey Minah,” Minhyuk said thoughtfully, sitting at the dinner table helping out his younger sister with her homework. He’d been mulling over an idea all day, since he overheard the conversation with Hoseok and Hyunwoo.

“What’s up?” Minah looked up happily to face her older brother, crayons clutched in her chubby hands.

“Do you know Hyuna, the girl from the daycare center, very well?”

“Of course!” Minah nodded cheerfully, “Look!” She pointed to one of the many drawings on the fridge, “I drew that one of me and Hyuna. We’re bestest friends!”

“How would you feel about having a sleepover with her?” Minhyuk asked, going over to look at the crayon drawing pinned up on the fridge.

“Can we? Can we, can we, can we please?” Minah squealed, leaping out of her seat to pull on Minhyuk’s shirt. Minhyuk smiled down at her.

“I’ll see what I can do, okay?”

+

Minhyuk’s eyes never left Hyunwoo. The two were sitting side by side, working silently on a small worksheet in Health class, and Minhyuk didn’t really know when the best time to ask was.

“Is there any reason why you’re staring at me?”

Minhyuk jumped, startled, as Hyunwoo turned to meet Minhyuk’s unwavering gaze. “Oh, um,” Minhyuk laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Actually, I was going to ask if your younger sister, Hyuna, wanted to sleep over at my house for Homecoming.”

Hyunwoo continued staring at Minhyuk in silence, so he just kept babbling.

“I mean, my younger sister really loves her and wants to have a sleepover, and I couldn’t help but hear that if you miss the Homecoming game, you’ll get kicked off the team, and-“

“Thank you.” Hyunwoo said quietly, bobbing his head. “I would appreciate that.”

“Really?” Minhyuk smiled widely, proud that his idea had actually worked, “Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!”

“So then are you not going to Homecoming?” Hyunwoo asked curiously, quirking an eyebrow.

“Nah,” Minhyuk shrugged with a melancholy smile, “Wanted to, but I have to watch my sister also, only I don’t have the threat of being kicked off a team if I don’t go. I can watch the stupid doll, too.”

Hyunwoo smiled at Minhyuk, and he felt his heartbeat race.

“You know,” Minhyuk mentioned, “We still haven’t named the baby.”

“Rat.”

“I’m sorry?”

Hyunwoo grinned slyly at Minhyuk, “We should name it Rat. It’s irritating and a pain in the ass.”

“A baby named Rat,” Minhyuk propped his head up on his fist, “I like it. Has a nice ring to it.”

The two shared amused looks and burst out into laughter. That was the first time Minhyuk held a full, civil conversation with Son Hyunwoo.

After class, on their way to lunch, Hyungwon swung an arm around Minhyuk’s shoulders.

“So, loverboy, Kihyun tells me that you’ve started talking with Hyunwoo,” He said with a smirk. Minhyuk looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

“What makes you say that?” Minhyuk retorted, and he folded his arms in suspicion as he examined his best friends.

“Oh, you know, just the 231 seconds of videos that Kihyun sent me on Snapchat of the two of you,” Hyungwon grinned cheekily at Minhyuk, who gaped at Kihyun.

“This is what you spend your time on?” Minhyuk groaned, sitting down grumpily at their lunch table, “Stalking me?”

“Hey, if I’ll never have a love life, I might as well live vicariously through you,” Kihyun shrugged nonchalantly. Minhyuk shook his head and just dug into his lunch.

“So what’s the update, anyways?” Hyungwon leaned forward on his elbows, almost knocking over Kihyun’s tray of lunch. “What were you guys talking about?”

“We’re calling our baby Rat,” Minhyuk smirked, “Pretty fitting, huh?”

“You called it Rat?” Kihyun shrieked, making several heads in the cafeteria turn towards him. “Who the hell calls their child Rat?”

“Hyunwoo, apparently,” Minhyuk laughed at Kihyun and Hyungwon’s disgusted expressions. “He’s the one who came up with it.”

“Oh my god,” Kihyun covered his face with his hands, “You two are totally meant for each other.”

+

“You’re all good to go!”

Minhyuk smile at the receptionist, who had been checking over Hyuna’s information at the day care center to make sure Minhyuk was authorized to take her. Minah and Hyuna were sitting on the carpeted floor, playing around.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Minhyuk bowed slightly to the receptionist, “Okay girls, let’s go!”

He led the two cheerful toddlers out to the car and powered it up. It was Homecoming night, and Minhyuk had made sure that he made it to the day care center on time. Rat was strapped into the front seat, and Minah and Hyuna were both in the back.

Every month, Minhyuk’s parents drove to LA to visit Minhyuk’s aunt and grandparents, leaving Minhyuk at home to watch Minah and the house. For September’s visit, it just so happened to fall on the day of Homecoming.

“Turn on some music!” Minah exclaimed, pounding the back of Minhyuk’s seat.

“There’s no point, we’re almost there,” Minhyuk yelled back, waving one of his hands in her general direction.

“Turn it on! Turn it on!” Minah started chanting, and a second later Hyuna joined in. Minhyuk groaned and punched the radio button, blaring some stupid Disney channel song that instantly sedated the two girls. Not two seconds later, though, they started singing along in high pitched squeals.

With a sigh, Minhyuk started singing along as well, much to their delight.

The night was exhausting, to say the least. The girls wanted to play house with Rat, and Minhyuk had to make sure that they were super careful with it, since it wasn’t just some doll that they could toss around. Then they got hungry, and he was forced to make them macaroni and cheese, only they didn’t have any mac’n’cheese in the house so he had to go to the store—with them—and pick up some mac’n’cheese.

While he was at the store, he ran into some people from his school who were trying to buy alcohol, and had to spend like 20 minutes explaining why he was babysitting two girls instead of partying hard.

Then he had to make the mac’n’cheese, make sure the girls didn’t burn or cut themselves trying to help him, had to feed them, help them get washed up and ready for bed, and finally, the enormous task of getting them to fall asleep.

It took three bedtime stories, one that he had to make up entirely, two glasses of warm milk, and five lullabies for them to finally go to sleep.

And of course, during all of this, Rat would start crying occasionally and Minhyuk would have to feed it or change its stupid diaper or something.

When the girls were _finally_ asleep, of course, Rat started crying, so Minhyuk spent another 15 minutes pacing around the living room with Rat in his arms, singing to it and patting its stupid plastic back.

Minhyuk himself finally fell asleep around nine, which was pretty early for him. Usually, his friends Skyped until two or three in the morning, so it was nice to really get a good night’s sleep.

It was nine a.m. when Minhyuk wakes up to someone ringing the doorbell. It couldn’t have been  the girls, because they’re fast asleep in Minah’s bed, and it can’t be his parents because they said that they would be coming home on Sunday.

Curious, Minhyuk threw on a sweatshirt and padded downstairs.

Son Hyunwoo, in all his glory, is standing on Minhyuk’s doorsteps with a bag from the local diner.

“I wanted to bring you breakfast, since you took a major one for the team,” Hyunwoo smiled briefly, handing Minhyuk the bag. Steam rose from the plastic bag, and it smelled like pancakes.

“Do you wanna come inside?” Minhyuk peeked inside, and almost audibly gasped at the sheer number of pancakes inside the bag. “Dude, there’s no way I can finish all of these pancakes by myself. You can just stay here until Hyuna wakes up, if you’d want.”

Hyunwoo nods, stepping inside. “I’d like that.”

Minhyuk motions for him to take off his shoes and then led him into the kitchen. “You want coffee? Milk? Tea?” Hyunwoo just shook his head, taking a seat at the homey table.

“It’s been a while since I actually sat down to eat,” Hyunwoo mused, propping his head up with his fist.

“Really?” Minhyuk couldn’t imagine not eating dinner with his family every night, no matter how irritating it got. “Your family doesn’t eat dinner together?”

Hyunwoo shook his head sheepishly, “Not really. Most of the time I eat dinner on the go; I have too many jobs to be eating at a regular time at home.” Minhyuk nodded, a bit surprised at this new information. “My mom was the only one making money for our family when we were younger,” Hyunwoo began to explain, “She works insane hours as a nurse over at the hospital. When I got into high school, I started working part-time jobs to help support her.”

Minhyuk nodded again, setting two plates down on the table. “You’re a good son,” He said, “And I’m sure when you actually have kids, you’ll be a great dad too.”

Hyunwoo grinned cheekily at that, “You’re not that bad of a dad either. I’m glad I was partnered with you and not Kihyun.”

Instead of taking offense to that obvious jab at his best friend, Minhyuk burst out into laughter, “To be honest, I agree with you there.”

The two ate in silence for a bit, and Minhyuk took the time to study Hyunwoo. He looked tired, but not really hungover, which surprised Minhyuk. This new information about Hyunwoo, how he helped support his family, was kind of a shock to Minhyuk. Hyunwoo played football, which was pretty time consuming, and he was popular. Normally, people who struggled to pay bills weren’t popular. Never one for evading a question, Minhyuk just bluntly asked, “Why do you play football if you’re so busy?”

Hyunwoo looked startled as he glanced up, cheeks puffed with pancakes. Minhyuk giggled as Hyunwoo quickly gulped down his mouthful.

“Scholarships,” Hyunwoo responded quietly, “I don’t like football, but I’m good at it. My mom really wants me to college, but there’s no way we can afford it, even with financial aid. And I’m not particularly smart, so football seemed like the way to go.”

Minhyuk wrinkled his nose, “I’m sorry, that sucks. That’s why you have to go to all the games and stuff?” Hyunwoo nodded. “You know, I’ve never actually been to a game before.”

Hyunwoo gaped at Minhyuk, “You’re a junior, how have you never been to a football game?”

Minhyuk shrugged, “I guess that’s just not what my friends are into. You know, we’re more the type of people to go to a concert or a play than a football game.”

“You should go to one,” Hyunwoo said firmly, “I have two free tickets for my parents, and since my dad isn’t really, uh, in the picture, you can use that.”

“What?” Minhyuk shook his head, “No, no, I don’t want to impose on you like that!”

Hyunwoo just shook his head and smiled, “My mom’s coming to our next game, and you _are_ going. Plus, she wants to meet you because of this whole baby project thing. And bring Rat, it’ll be good exposure.”

“Are you sure?” Minhyuk asked worriedly, “If your mom’s going, it seems like it would be a more family thing. Or maybe you should bring Hyuna? I don’t want to impose on your family time.”

“Bring Hyuna to a game full of testosterone-filled guys who swear louder than a bullhorn?” Hyunwoo joked, “I don’t think so. I’ll bring you the ticket on Monday, the game is next Friday.”

+

“It’s totally a date.”

“Kihyun!” Minhyuk slapped his best friend, “It’s not a date! His mom is gonna be there!”

“Even better,” Kihyun snickered, “A date _and_ meeting the parents.”

“Yeah, no, Kihyun, it’s not a date,” Hyungwon shook his head, taking a sip of his Cherry Coke. The three friends were sitting in the local diner, having lunch and catching up (on Minhyuk’s love life).

“No, it totally is,” Kihyun insisted, arms crossed, “At least wear something nice. Do you even have any school gear?”

Minhyuk wrinkled his eyebrows in thought, “I don’t think I do, I always thought it was stupid.”

“Ask him for a jersey or a sweatshirt or something,” Kihyun squealed, “That’s so cute!”

“I agree with him on that,” Hyungwon nodded, “Dude, even if it’s not a date, you gotta start putting the moves on him. You’ve had that crush on him for like a year and a half, and it’s finally your chance!”

Minhyuk groaned, sipping his milkshake, “Wouldn’t it be creepy though? ‘ _Hey dude, just wondering if you could lend me a shirt because I’m thirsty as hell, no homo.’_ ”

“No, no, that’s not how you ask!” Kihyun yelled, “You’d pull a _‘since I’ve never been to a football game, I don’t have any stuff from our school, but I figured if I’m going, I should support you guys, do you have anything you could lend me?’_ ”

“Don’t look now, loverboy, but your mancrush and his idiot friends just walked in,” Hyungwon commented dryly.

Minhyuk paled, “Guys, promise me that you won’t do anything stupid, idiotic, embarrassing or rude, okay?” Hyungwon and Kihyun stayed silent. “Guys!”

“Okay, okay, geez,” Kihyun rolled his eyes, “You’d think I was Donald Trump from the way you talk.”

Hyunwoo and his friends walked into the diner and were just about to pass their table when Wonho stopped.

“Kihyun, please never wear that sweater to school,” He sniffed, “I don’t think I could stand an entire day of seeing that fashion atrocity.”

“Oh please,” Kihyun rolled his eyes, “You _wish_ you could see me for an entire day.”

As the two traded insults, Hyunwoo smiled and mouthed “hi” to Minhyuk, who grinned and waved back. Hyunwoo, Minhyuk realised, was the exact opposite of the asshole that Minhyuk had always thought he was.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone go vote for monsta x for mama k thx  
> also go talk to me on twt @ultshowhyuks k thx

**Author's Note:**

> yeah so hopefully people liked that. i'll try to get the next chapter out soon!
> 
> spread the cute showhyuk love


End file.
